I'm offering an amendment to the Senate's gun violence prevention measure that would ban high-capacity magazines, a common-sense proposal that a majority of Americans support. Passing this amendment is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do.

Normally a Democratic Congressional primary would attract little national attention. But the contest Tuesday in Illinois' Second Congressional District pitted two political giants against each other: the National Rifle Association and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Too often, I have had the sorrowful experience of attending funerals of men, women, and children who have been gunned down on the streets of Los Angeles. Even though violent crime has been on the decline, no amount is acceptable. I took a stand against this violence.

Let's not allow mental illness to be further stigmatized by events like the Newtown tragedy, nor to distract us from the solutions that are closer at hand. It's a lot faster, easier, and cheaper to reduce the number of assault weapons in circulation.

Why is it so crazy to float the notion that the kind of assault weapon used in Aurora (not necessarily the gun itself, but the magazine) might not be the kind of thing that just anybody should be able to stroll into a gun shop and buy?

We have found that the National Rifle Association (NRA) receives millions of dollars directly from domestic and foreign gun manufacturers and other members of the firearms industry through an organized corporate outreach program.

It's time to end the bloodshed and restore common sense to our gun laws -- beginning with a permanent ban on high-capacity gun magazines. These deadly devices are the weapon of choice for the deranged.